“Titan, commencing disengagement. Local Strategic AI requesting operation re-computation. Accepted. Using Telek Port City base resources. Computation complete. Commenced new operation.”
“192 fighters have reached the combat airspace! Authority transferred to Oceanus Tactical AI!”
In the video, the Titan, its fuselage pierced by a Wyvern’s breath, began a wide turn, spewing fire and smoke.
The penetration point was in the center of the all-wing structure, slightly forward and to the left. It didn’t affect the computer clusters, the heart of the ship, but one of the two Fusion Reactors had suffered critical damage.
“Emergency shutdown of B-system Fusion Reactor. Forced discharge of accumulated energy in progress.
Energy line overflow has damaged 12 main engines. 2 sub-engines are unusable.
Reduced port radar efficiency. Armament operational rate is below 20%.
Using rocket boosters for emergency disengagement.”
To compensate for the acceleration lost due to engine damage, the Titan ignited the six Solid Fuel Rockets installed at the rear of the ship.
Of the 20 main plasma jet engines, 12 were damaged or completely destroyed.
Of the eight jet engines activated as backups, two were inoperable due to equipment failure.
A single direct hit from a breath attack had immediately left it battered and bruised.
And while the two-system Fusion Reactor had avoided a direct hit, the surrounding equipment had been blown away, rendering one system completely silent.
“Situation?”
“Yes, Ma’am.
Titan is transitioning to an escape trajectory.
A large-scale fire has broken out inside the ship, and firefighting operations are underway.
Flight is possible, but it’s fifty-fifty whether we can reach the Flattala City Outskirts Base.
The Wyvern has begun to flee. It is decreasing altitude and increasing its flight speed.
Oceanus is still operational.
Using the fighter groups under its command, it has resumed the attack.”
The Wyvern, which had begun to descend, was rapidly increasing its flight speed.
It would probably exceed the speed of sound.
But in pursuit were Hypersonic Missiles and Armor-Piercing Shells fired from the ventral Railgun. Gaining a little speed wouldn’t be enough to escape.
“Oceanus, using Maser Cannon. Conducting pinpoint irradiation of the Wyvern’s head.”
Furthermore, a high-output Maser Cannon was directed at the sensory organs, presumably located on its head.
It was jamming the microwave band used by the Wyvern.
To use a human analogy, it was like being suddenly illuminated by an ultra-powerful searchlight while sprinting at full speed.
Whether its equilibrium was disturbed or it was simply surprised was unknown, but the Wyvern began to spin as it descended.
Missiles and a large number of Armor-Piercing Shells rained down on it.
The acceleration conversion by the Defense Membrane already had enough samples for predictive calculations.
The impact of the missiles and the falling Armor-Piercing Shells were converted into acceleration, but the direction of that acceleration was controlled by the Local Strategic AI with a hit rate of over 75%.
And at the calculated moment, the Defense Membrane lost its brilliance.
“Multi-Stage Electromagnetic Cannon (Coil Cannon), fired. Penetration confirmed. Missile groups, direct hits from each Cannon Shell confirmed.”
Then, a barrage of missiles and Cannon Shells assailed the Wyvern, whose Defense Membrane had disappeared.
The Cannon Shells and missile explosions scraped off scales and sent them flying.
“Multiple direct hits. Damage analysis in progress.”
The Cannon Shell fired by the Multi-Stage Electromagnetic Cannon (Coil Cannon) penetrated from behind its neck to the opposite side.
In addition, many Railgun Cannon Shells, while not penetrating, had severely damaged its entire body.
The missiles also blew away scales and skin, and seemed to be damaging the subcutaneous muscle tissue and even the internal organs.
“Wyvern, acceleration phenomenon has disappeared. Decelerating due to air resistance.”
“D-Did we finally get it…?”
Rotating in an unnatural posture, the Wyvern fell towards the ground. No further movement could be detected.
“Wyvern, confirmed silenced.”
“Onee-sama, I’ve confirmed that the microwaves emitted by the Wyvern have also disappeared. I judge that it is probably dead, or at least unconscious!”
“Unconscious… Well, the Defense Membrane doesn’t seem to be regenerating, and if it’s slammed into the ground at that falling speed, even a super-creature wouldn’t be able to withstand it…”
Due to friction with the atmosphere, the falling speed would not be that fast.
Even so, if it crashed into the ground at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour, it would be impossible to withstand, no matter how much its body tissue was strengthened.
That Rain Croin might be able to withstand it, though.
“Onee-sama, Titan fire extinguished! The damage is extensive, but it looks like we can make it to the base!”
“I see, well done. I’m glad we didn’t have a bad omen like crashing on our maiden sortie.”
The Gigantia Squad exhibits unparalleled strength in ground suppression battles.
It can drop a large number of ground suppression units from high altitude, and can also provide supporting fire with multiple Cannons.
Its flight speed exceeds 1,000 km/h, allowing it to move quickly to the necessary battlefield.
In addition, using the enormous energy generated by the Fusion Reactor, it can supply power to the surrounding units under its command.
Naturally, it also carries enough brains (AI) to control all of those units.
It was truly a Flying Fortress.
But even so, due to the characteristics of aerodynamic flight, it has the weakness of having thin armor.
This time, that weakness had been directly hit.
Moreover, because it was at the front lines, air cover was insufficient.
Or rather, they hadn’t anticipated that flying enemies would approach at all.
Even so, it was a fine play to have at least the minimum number of direct escort fighters accompanying them.
There was no way they could have predicted that a Dragon would attack from a place hundreds of kilometers away.
“We finished suppressing the Afrasia United Kingdom as planned, but that Wyvern snatched it all away with just one attack…”
“Yes, Ma’am. I am very sorry. We did not anticipate it at all.”
That was true. Not even Commander (Eve), and certainly not Asahi, could have foreseen the Wyvern.
It was impossible to blame ＜Ringo＞, and it hurt to see ＜Ringo＞ so dejected.
“Don’t worry, ＜Ringo＞. There’s nothing we can do about it. In this irrational (fantasy) world, anything can happen.”
Commander (Eve) comforted ＜Ringo＞ while checking the wide-area map.
All the major cities of the Afrasia United Kingdom had been secured.
The Duke-class individuals and their families had all been located. If anything happened, they could deal with it immediately.
Almost all of the main military forces in each city had also been suppressed.
There was a possibility that a small number of resistance forces would form, but well, it probably wouldn’t be a problem.
After all, ＜Paraiso＞ had an excellent intelligence network.
“Now, all that’s left is the East Gate city. We’ve practically occupied it already, but just in case, we’ll seize the influential figures and strip them of their command. Finally, a notice to the Forest Country (Lebresta).”
“Yes, Ma’am. With this, Operation ＜What’s yours is mine＞ will be complete. It will be completed by sunset today.”
They managed to pull it off.
Letting out a big breath, Commander (Eve) sank into her chair.
“But really, you can’t let your guard down… And, just like Asahi said, Dragons really do exist.”
“Not at all, Onee-sama! But even Asahi didn’t expect it to come out at this timing!”
In the monitor, Asahi was dancing around while cheering.
It seemed that she was excited because she could get a monster (sample) that could be called the representative of the fantasy world, the Dragon.
However, even while dancing, she continued to send out a large number of instructions via radio, and she was doing her job properly.
It wasn’t something to be concerned about just because it was unsightly. Or rather, Commander (Onee-sama) was looking at her with a smile. ＜Ringo＞ remained silent.
Amidst such commotion, the silver Dragon crashed into the shallow layers of the Demon Forest without showing any signs of slowing down.